Proposed amendment in DDJAY scheme to boost real estate in Gurgaon: Developers

Real estate developers say the Haryanagovernment’s decision to allow sale of more area under the Deen Dayal Jan Awas Yojana(DDJAY) will give a boost to the affordable housing segment in Gurgaon.

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had recently announced that the provision for freezing 50% of the land till grant of completion certificate will be amended to reduce the area to 20%.

“The move will enable cashflow in the sector while giving more options to home buyers. A much-awaited step, this has come as a Holigift for home buyers and developers,” said Pradeep Aggarwal, founder & chairman of Signature Global Group and chairman of Assocham National Council on Real Estate, Housing and Urban Development.

The change in provision will free up 30% of the earlier frozen land for sale and development, helping in generation of additional revenues.

“It will not only help existing players by giving them a leverage on the revenue but also enable new players to get into DDJAY projects, as the viability gap, if any, decreases,” said SantoshAgarwal, CFO and executive director at Alpha Corp.

Agarwal also said the existing system of providing bank guarantee for securing the payment of EDC/IDC should be done away with.

The move is also likely to boost the independent floors market in Gurgaon, which is already experiencing a boom in demand.

Share of independent floors in the total housing units launched in Gurgaon in 2021 reached a whopping 74% as pandemic forced buyers to opt for larger living spaces.

“Reducing the percentage of land freeze will provide ease of operations, a much-needed relief in the current challenging post-pandemic scenario. The government initiative and presence of many builders will help to minimise illegal development,” said Rajat Goel, joint managing director at MRG World.

Due to the earlier land freeze restriction, developers were not able to sell the projects in the market.

“With 80% of land rights, they can easily attract customers and increase their funding before completion. It is going to work in favour of the market expansion,” said Kushagr Ansal, director at Ansal Housing.